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Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Protein bars make up a very big part of my diet. Maybe a little too big of a part...but that's not important now... I just love them! Convenient, portable, easy, prepackaged, high protein, and if you find the good ones, healthy and tasty!

I was seeing some bars by a company called Manbake all over Instagram and knew I had to try some!

I was very excited when they send me 10 bars to taste and review!

Before the tasting party can begin, I had to check out the nutritional stats.

I like my bars to have around 20 grams of protein. Check!

The macros vary slightly but the bars are 160-190 calories 5F 24C 20P.

Doesn't hurt that they are also gluten free and paleo friendly!

I would absolutely consider these a healthy protein bar. Most of Manbake's recipes contain chia seeds, flax seeds, and hemp. Super foods! They also use lots of different nuts and seeds instead of sugars and preservatives.

They even have a vegan friendly bar! I decided to try the Mocha Fudge first. This bar also contains some caffeine for an extra energy boost!

As soon as I tore through the wrapper I smelled chocolate and coffee! I checked in the ingredients and they even use real coffee.

I was pleasently surprised to find whole almonds throughout the bar. The bar was slightly soft and chewy. This bar was not very sweet at all. I could really taste the coffee. I am not a huge fan of coffee flavored things, but if you are, this might be a good flavor for you to try.

Let's try something a little fruity!

I must warn you...I am not a huge fan of fruit flavored things...I love fruit, but I usually don't really like fruity flavored things like yogurt, ice cream, granola bars, candy, cereal...

I went into it with an open mind!

I actually kinda liked it! Same soft, chewy texture. There were tiny bits of strawberry swirled throughout. I like that there wasn't huge chunks of strawberries, but some strawberry essense. Strawberry essence?? Ya, sure...

Sticking with the fruity-ness...

Apple Pie is quite delicious! It is one of the fruity desserts I actually like. Can't go wrong with cinnamon and apples.

It smelled fantastic!! Just like apple pie from the oven.

Loved this one!! The bar was pretty smooth. No real chunks or anything. I don't know how they got so much apple cinnamon flavor in there, but they did real good with this one!

I took the other Apple Pie bar to the soccer fields.

Let it sit in the sun for a few minutes to get really soft...heavenly!! It really was like warm, gooey apple pie!

I decided to have some fun with the Double Chocolate Chip bar.

I see little chocolate chips hiding in there!

The texture of this bar is cookie dough-ish I figured...

Why not turn it into actual cookies!!

I microwaved the bar for 10 seconds, broke it into little pieces, formed tiny cookie dough balls, and baked them at 350 for 5 minutes.

Ta-Da!! Itty Bitty Cookies!!! These were not quite as sweet and chocolatey as I would have liked, but still pretty tasty. I have baked other bars into cookies before and is my absolute favorite way to eat them!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough was up next so I HAD to try more cookies!

This bar was much softer than the Double Chocolate Chip.

So they spread a lot more when baked.

Next time I need to use a bigger baking sheet and spread them out.

But they tasted amazing!! Slightly crunchy and then just melted in my mouth!

The Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough bar was by far my favorite!

I tried the other one right out of the wrapper. Literally tasted like the raw slice and bake cookie dough you buy at the store. Only this is good for you!!

I work as a nanny and sometimes it can be hard to always sit down and eat when and what I want.

These bars are a perfect snack to toss in my bag for when hunger strikes!

Would I recommend Manbake bars?!

Yes!! With all the different flavors, I am sure you will find one that suits you!

You can buy right from their website or check and see if they are sold in stores near you. Manbake also carries a line of nut butters that all sound fabulous.

They seemed to enjoy what I did with the products so they send me some Jamie Eason Peanut Protein to play with too!! It is made from defatted peanuts and natural ingredients. Similar to PB2 and other powder peanut butters.

I know some of the ingredients sound crazy, but trust me! I am a professional! Well...kinda...

In a blender or food processor, puree the beans, pumpkin, egg, milk, baking powder, and vanilla.

At first it will look kinda like orange humus. Stir in everything else but the peanut protein and you will have some very chocolatey batter!

You can easily double this recipe to make a bigger batch of brownies, but this recipe makes six. I used a 5 x 7 rectangle baking dish.

Coat the dish with nonstick spray and pour the batter.

Time to get our peanut butter ready!

You can use as much or as little as you like! I used one serving ( 2 T )

Add about 1 1/2 T of water to the powder and stir.

You want it to be a little runny. Add the water slowly! You can always add more, but you can't take it out! If you want it super sweet, you can add in one sweetener, but I don't think it needs it. If using regular peanut butter, I suggest microwaving it for a few seconds to thin it out.

Drizzle the peanut butter all over that brownie batter!

Into the oven for 25 minutes at 350.

Is there anything better than the smell of chocolate and peanut butter?!

Stick a toothpick in the middle and if it comes out clean, they are done!

You would never guess that we used beans and pumpkin to make these soft, chocolatey brownies!!

The best part is that these are super healthy!

All six brownies are only 315 calories.

You also get a whopping 37 grams of protein!

That's right, brownies for breakfast!

People won't think you are eating healthy when they see you with these. And they certainly won't believe some of the ingredients when if you let them have a taste.

Monday, September 15, 2014

I remember making Rice Crispy Treats as a kid all the time! I still make them with the kiddos I nanny for, but don't eat four or five bars like I used to! I decided to come up with a little healthier version of this childhood treat so I could still enjoy them without the guilt!

Since I didn't want to use an entire bag of sugary marshmallows half a stick of butter, I needed to come up with something to replace those ingredients with...Quest Bar to the rescue!!

Only two ingredients! That is less than what you need for the original recipe.